Would she share the recipe with a bunch of degenerate beer nerds?
Her original recipe was for 6-7 loaves and I have it pared down to 2 here;
Preheat oven to lowest setting turn off once up to temp, about 100F
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter
- Warm up in small pot on stove to melt butter, then allow to cool to room temp
1/2 cup water, warm
1 tsp sugar
2-1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
- bloom yeast in water / sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp anise extract
1/6 tsp salt
- all into stand mixer bowl, mix with whisk
Add milk / butter, mix until combined
Add bloomed yeast mixture, mix until combined
Switch to dough hook
Add 4-5 cups AP flour, looking for dough that isn't too sticky, drier than pizza dough. Probably closer to 4-3/4 cups
Once all flour is incorporated, dump onto counter and knead by hand for 5 min, unless your mixer can handle
Place ball of dough into lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and towel. Place into warmed oven.
Let rise for 2 hours
Prepare sheet pan with parchment
After rise, punch down and remove from bowl
Dough should weigh around 1400g
To make two loaves, 3x braid similar to this video
Divide dough into approx 700g, then into 233g pieces
Press out air and tuck/roll into preformed cylinders
Place on parchment lined pan, cover with towel and rest 15 min
Roll out each cylinder into 1-1/2” diameter strand, about 16” long?, slight bulb in the middle and taper the ends
Line up beside each other, and braid; 1 over 2, 3 over 2, etc
Place on parchment and proof for 2 hours
Preheat oven to 350F
Place pan with both loaves in center position
Bake for 30 min
Brush with egg wash and bake addl 5 min